World TB Day, falling on March 24th each year aims to increase public awareness about tuberculosis (TB) and to support worldwide TB control efforts including efforts to eliminate the disease. March 24th commemorates the day in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the TB bacillus which was the cause of tuberculosis. At the time of Koch's announcement in Berlin, TB was raging through Europe and the Americas, causing the death of one out of every seven people and his discovery opened the way towards diagnosing and curing TB. Worldwide, TB remains one of the leading causes of death from infectious disease.
World TB Day 2012 This year, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Stop TB partnership in adopting the slogan “Stop TB in my lifetime” which supports the theme of calling for a world free of TB.
The slogan and theme encourage people all over the world, from the youngest to the oldest, to make an individual call for the elimination of TB, and to say what changes they expect to take place in their lifetimes.
In their lifetimes, today's children should expect to see a world where no one gets sick with TB.
In their lifetimes, women and men should expect to see a world where no one dies from TB.
People of different ages and living in different countries could have these hopes for stopping TB in their lifetimes leading to:
No deaths from TB
Faster treatment
A quick, cheap, low-tech test for TB
An effective vaccine
A world free of TB
World TB Day 2012 - Europe For World Tuberculosis Day 2012, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is focusing on ‘Urban TB Control’ and is working jointly with four cities in the EU to arrange events on this theme. The cities hosting the events are Barcelona (Spain), London (United Kingdom), Milan (Italy) and Rotterdam (The Netherlands). The aim of this initiative is to increase awareness around urban TB epidemiology and to promote the exchange of experiences on good practices, innovative tools and interventions for enhanced TB control efforts in the big cities of Europe.
Even in low incidence countries, urban TB can be several times higher than in rural areas. In Ireland, while the national TB rate in 2009 was 11.3 per 100,000 (479 cases), it is notable that rates of greater than 20 per 100,000 were reported in some local health areas in urban settings namely Dublin South City, Dublin West, Dublin North Central and Dublin North West. The higher TB incidence seen in big cities of Western Europe poses new challenges and needs to be addressed in order to completely eliminate TB in the EU.
Epidemiology of TB – Ireland In 2009, (the latest validated figures) there were 479 cases of TB reported in Ireland, a notification rate of 11.3 cases per 100,000 population. This is a slight increase in TB cases notified compared to 2008 when 468 cases were notified and the notification rate was 11.0 per 100,000. In 2010, 427 cases of TB have been provisionally reported giving a notification rate of 10.1 per 100,000.
In 2009, the notification rate for TB in the indigenous population was 7.6 per 100,000 while the rate in foreign-born persons was 33.6 per 100,000. The number of TB cases reported in Ireland has declined since the 1990s with 604 cases reported in 1992, a rate of 17.1 per 100,000. The decline has been even more considerable since the early 1950s when 7,000 cases of TB were notified annually.
Full details on the Annual TB Report 2009 (including provisional 2010 TB data) are available here
World Tuberculosis (TB) Day is held on March 24th each year and provides an opportunity to raise awareness about the international health threat presented by TB. It is a day to recognise the collaborative efforts of all countries involved in fighting TB. March 24th commemorates the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus. Koch's discovery opened the way toward diagnosing and curing TB. TB can be cured, controlled, and with diligent efforts and sufficient resources, eventually eliminated.
“On the Move against Tuberculosis, Innovate to Accelerate Action” is the theme for World TB Day 2010. This theme underlines the worldwide plan to Stop TB (Global Plan to Stop TB-2006-2015 at http://www.stoptb.org/global/plan/) by promoting better efforts and innovative ways in order to achieve the 2006-2015 targets. The year 2010 marks the halfway point for the Global Plan. It is clearer than ever that all countries must scale up efforts and continue to seek new and innovative ways to stop TB if we are to achieve the targets outlined in the plan as follows: 1. By 2015: To reduce the prevalence of and death due to TB by 50% relative to 1990 2. By 2050: The global incidence of active TB will be less than 1 case per million population (i.e. elimination of TB as a global public health problem)
Such innovations include finding new and better tools to fight tuberculosis e.g. drugs for treatment, vaccines and diagnostics and new innovative approaches for reaching people with TB care.
Though considerable achievements have been made, evidence shows that we need to speed up our efforts to achieve better results. The theme of innovation calls for a different way of thinking, as well as learning from the experiences of successful TB campaigns around the world.
TB –The Facts TB remains a leading cause of death worldwide. In 2008, 1.8 million people died from TB including 500,000 people who were also co-infected with HIV. There were 9.4 million new cases of TB globally in 2008 including 1.4 million cases among people living with HIV. It is a disease closely related to poverty and more than 80% of the infected cases live in developing countries. The vast majority of TB deaths are in developing countries and more than half of all deaths occur in Asia. Multidrug-resistant TB remains a threat and extensively drug-resistant TB has become an emerging threat.
Across the WHO European Region, over 450,000 TB cases were reported in 2008, representing approximately 6% of TB cases reported to WHO worldwide. After an increase in overall TB notification rates between 2004 and 2007, the WHO European Region has reported a decrease of 2.6% since 2007. The age group with the highest number (42.0%) of newly detected TB cases in the Region is the 25–44 year olds.
In 2007, (the latest validated figures) there were 480 cases of TB reported in Ireland, a notification rate of 11.3 cases per 100,000 population. This is a slight increase in TB cases notified compared to 2006 when 465 cases were notified and the notification rate was 11.0 per 100,000. In 2008, 470 cases of TB have been provisionally reported giving a notification rate of 11.1 per 100,000. Full details are available here in the Annual TB Report 2007 (including provisional 2008 TB data).
In 2007, the notification rate for TB in the indigenous population was 8.0 per 100,000 while the rate in foreign-born persons was 31.3 per 100,000. The number of TB cases reported in Ireland has declined since the 1990s with 612 cases reported in 1991, a rate of 18.2 per 100,000. The decline has been even more considerable since the early 1950s when 7,000 cases of TB were notified annually.
World TB Day is held on March 24th each year and provides an opportunity to raise awareness about the international health threat presented by tuberculosis (TB). It is a day to recognise the collaborative efforts of all countries involved in fighting TB. TB can be cured, controlled, and with diligent efforts and sufficient resources, eventually eliminated.
The slogan for World TB Day 2008 is “I am stopping TB”. This year's World TB Day is about celebrating the lives and stories of people affected by TB: women, men and children who have taken TB treatment; nurses; doctors; researchers; community workers--anyone who has contributed towards the global fight against TB.
TB - The Facts TB remains a leading cause of death worldwide with up to 9 million cases and 1.6 million deaths reported per year. It is a disease closely related to poverty and more than 80% of the infected cases live in developing countries.
In 2005, (the latest validated figures) there were 450 cases of TB reported in Ireland, a notification rate of 10.6 cases per 100,000 population. In 2006, there were 458 cases provisionally reported to HPSC, a notification rate of 10.8/100,000. The rate in the indigenous population was 8.3 per 100,000 in 2005 while the rate in foreign-born persons was 24.8 per 100,000. There has been a considerable decline in TB cases since the early 1950s when 7,000 cases of TB were notified annually.
The European Commission has released the following press statement on today Thursday, May 31, 2007 regarding the case of a US passenger with extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) travelling on flights between Europe and North America. There were no Irish citizens on any of these flights.
Press Release from European Commission
Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis: EU Member States agree on coordinated measures concerning infected air passenger
At a meeting chaired by the European Commission and held at the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) in Stockholm on 30 May, authorities responsible for taking measures in the EU Member States agreed to follow the ECDC's advice, requested by the Commission on 29 May, on the case of a US passenger with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) travelling on flights between Europe and North America. As a precautionary measure and following recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO), the ECDC's advice is to perform contact tracing for passengers 2 rows ahead, 2 rows behind and the row of the infected passenger, and the cabin crew concerned. The ECDC's advice is that the risk for these persons is very limited, other passengers are not considered at risk. The passengers will be contacted by the corresponding national health authorities, as the Member States are responsible for tracing their own nationals. The distribution of the relevant information from the airlines for this process will be coordinated by ECDC.
Background The European Commission had on 29 May requested the ECDC to provide a risk assessment to the Commission and public health authorities across Europe, following an alert posted by Italy on the EU Early Warning and Response System (EWRS) on the case of a US passenger with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) travelling on flights between Europe and North America.
The two concerned flights are:
Air France # 385 departing Atlanta on May 12 and arriving in Paris on May 13, 2007
Czech Air # 0104 departing Prague, Czech Republic to Montreal, Canada on May 24, 2007
To view presentations from the public meeting held on 30th April 2007 click here.
World TB Day - 24th March 2007
World TB Day is held on March 24th each year and provides an opportunity to raise awareness about the international health threat presented by tuberculosis (TB). It is a day to recognise the collaborative efforts of all countries involved in fighting TB. TB can be cured, controlled, and with diligent efforts and sufficient resources, eventually eliminated.
The theme for World TB Day 2007-“TB Anywhere is TB Everywhere” reinforces the message that through unified action on all levels we can work towards a world free of tuberculosis. It calls for collaboration and shared responsibility to achieve this. TB is a disease without borders and must be tackled through co-ordinated international action including financial investment in TB control, surveillance, and research and development.
World TB Day 2007 also aims to emphasise the importance of the need for decision-makers to protect communities from the threat of extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) and HIV-related TB.
By mobilising communities, raising awareness, encouraging governments and donors to invest in TB control and calling for strengthened commitment, countries can ensure that TB is placed prominently on the global agenda and is eliminated by 2050 through a unified global campaign.
TB - The Facts TB remains a leading cause of death worldwide with up to 9 million cases and 1.6 million deaths reported per year. It is a disease closely related to poverty and more than 80% of the infected cases live in developing countries.
In 2004, (the latest validated figures) there were 432 cases of TB reported in Ireland, a notification rate of 10.2 cases per 100,000 population. In 2005, there were 461 cases provisionally reported to HPSC, a notification rate of 10.8/100,000. The rate in the indigenous population was 8.8 per 100,000 in 2005 while the rate in foreign-born persons was 38.0 per 100,000. The number of TB cases reported in Ireland has declined in the last decade with 612 cases reported in 1991, a rate of 18.2 per 100,000. The decline has been even more considerable since the early 1950s when 7,000 cases of TB were notified annually.
However, we must remain vigilant concerning TB treatment and control as “TB Anywhere is TB Everywhere” reminds all countries of their collective responsibility to combat this curable disease. Global TB control is required to achieve TB elimination in all countries including those with a low incidence of disease.
World TB Day is held on March 24th each year and provides people around the world with an opportunity to raise awareness about the international health threat presented by tuberculosis (TB). It is a day to recognise the collaborative efforts of all countries involved in fighting TB. TB can be cured, controlled, and with diligent efforts and sufficient resources, eventually eliminated.
The first World TB Day was sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD) in 1982 a century after Dr. Robert Koch discovered the organism, which causes TB.
The theme for World TB Day 2006 - “Actions for Life: Towards a World free of TB” – aims to mobilise support for the fight against TB and to work towards a TB-free world. By mobilising communities, raising awareness, encouraging governments and donors to invest in TB control and calling for strengthened commitment, countries can ensure that TB is placed prominently on the global agenda and is eliminated by 2050.
In January 2006, the “Stop TB Partnership” released The Global Plan to Stop TB 2006-2015. The plan outlines what needs to be done to make an impact on the global burden of TB and to achieve the Partnership’s goal of cutting TB deaths and disease by half by 2015.
In order to accelerate social and political action to stop the unnecessary spread of TB around the world, World TB Day 2006 aims to:
Promote TB control and care
Serve as an advocacy and educational opportunity
Increase public awareness, engagement, and support in the fight against TB
Engage governments and donor agencies for strengthened commitments
Place TB higher on the international agenda.
TB remains a leading cause of death worldwide with up to 8 million cases and 2 million deaths reported per year. In Ireland in 2003 (the latest validated figures) there were 407 cases of TB reported giving a notification rate of 10.4 cases per 100,000 population. The number of TB cases reported in Ireland has declined in the last decade with 612 cases reported in 1991, a rate of 18.2 per 100,000. The decline has been considerable since the early 1950s when 7,000 cases of TB were notified annually.
However we must remain vigilant regarding TB treatment and control and must strive to reach the targets of the Global Plan to Stop TB.
